Re: [Paddlewise] Whoa Nellie!!

----- Original Message ----- From: KiAyker_at_aol.com 


To: Rob.Castle_at_mail.house.gov 


 Re: [Paddlewise] Whoa Nellie!!> 





>>>   Wetsiuts are designed to be worn tight, and to trap a thin layer of
water 


against the skin. A million years ago when I used to sell diving equipment I 



used to tell people who were shopping for their first wetsuit that "the first

wetsuit you buy will always be too tight! The next wet suit you buy will be 


even tighter!" <<<





Hear! Hear! 


        Any thickness underneath your wetsuit is a conduit for water to get in
and flow through next to you.  Water is about 25 times more heat conductive
than air, so this is a risk.  It's called a wetsuit because you do get wet.
it is basically a layer of blubber you normally don't have.  It won't work
well if you space that blubber away from you.  So, for me, I never wear
anything 'neath my suit except occasionally a (very) thin rash guard garment.
--And certainly I prefer nothing at the edge of the suit where water can
enter.  Any other layers are worn Over the suit.  Otherwise I've cancelled out
what I put on the suit for.  


        I have both wet and dry suits.  The drysuit has many advantages in
that I can layer beneath it for different thermal conditions.  Can I get
overly warm if the air temp is high?  Yes.  Can I fall into the water for a
few seconds to cool down? Yes.  Can I get back into my boat? Yes -- but then
again I'm usually doing this if I'm stopped along the shore.  And I may
instead take the time to add or subtract a layer instead.  


        Probably 90 percent of my paddlling time here in New Jersey is on a
river or fairly close to shore.  My main concern then is if I have enough
thermal protection to get to shore and dry off/warm up.  The suits give me an
edge.  


        When do I wear which?  Probably most of the time it's the wetsuit,
largely because it's enough (and I worked that out the hard way).  But when
either  the water gets down below 45-50 F,  the air temp is cold, or I expect
to get water splashed on me and into the boat, then it's the drysuit.  If I'm
in Class III whitewater it's always the drysuit.  Same for being in cold but
quietwater some distance from shore.  A local USCG officer told me of the
50/50 rule they use here.  You have a 50% chance of survival if you're 50
yards from the shore.  


        From a seasonal approach, I'm wearing a drysuit now, but by the end of
April I will have shifted over to the wetsuit.  


HTH





Joe P.



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